Ok, I have to premise this with, I am a very good baker. I’ve sold my baked goods to friends, family, and strangers, and even to churches for Mother’s Day Brunches in the past. Baking of all types is something that I’ve done my entire life, and it is something that I am good at (sorry if that sounds like I am bragging, but I have to set the stage here). There isn’t much that I can’t bake and have it turn out tasting pretty good, and having good texture. I always prefer homemade baked goods to packaged mixes in everything except for one item…..brownies! I have made probably 30-50 different brownie recipes over the past 38 years and have never tasted one that tasted as good and had as good of a texture as the boxed brownie mixes (and I definitely have my favorite boxed brownie mix–Ghirardelli Double Chocolate is my FAVORITE for taste and texture). Yesterday, the kids and I were watching The Chew (on ABC) and Carla Hall made a Mississippi Mud Pie. It has a brownie base, the crew was eating the brownie batter right out of the pan before she even had a chance to bake it, and everyone was completely ooohing and aaaahing over the completed product. SO, I decided to give the brownie portion of the recipe a go! (Actually, my 11 year old daughter, r, made them, following the recipe exactly). I do have to say, these are a VERY VERY good brownie! The texture was just a little bit fudgier than even I like, but the taste was good (we used a high quality dark chocolate, and I think that next time I will use regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, because there was a slight “off” taste, that I am 99.9999% sure was because the chocolate should have been a semi-sweet). So I wanted to share the recipe for Carla Hall’s Homemade Brownies with you all….and if you are like me and prefer the boxed brownie mixes to the hundreds of homemade recipes out there, this might just be what you are looking for! Oh, and next time I’ll let them bake just a few moments longer to let them dry out just a tad.

Carla Hall’s brownies from The Chew (6/12/12)

For the Brownie Batter:

8 ounces Butter

8 ounces Bittersweet or Semisweet Chocolate

4 Eggs

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Dark Brown Sugar

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1 cup All-Purpose Flour

instructionsFor the Brownie Batter: Gently melt butter and chocolate together in a glass bowl in the microwave or over a pot of simmering water. In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, salt, sugars and vanilla.

instructionsStir egg mixture into chocolate mixture, and then add flour. Stir just until combined.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 x 12 or 9 x 13″ baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour brownie batter into pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into dough comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting (if you can :)).